Finding Compassion in Matthew

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Chapter 8 - The Leper Comes to Jesus

Matthew 8 – Observations

The leper comes to Jesus:
"If you are willing you can make me clean." He put a really high
regard on Jesus as he not only risked his life to come to him. But he also
worshiped him and gave him credit to do something that not even the priest could
do - make him clean.

Most of the stories in this
chapter deal with healing based on faith but the one that stands out for me is
the centurion. He was not a Jew, yet he believed that Jesus had power so that
he could speak a word and his will be done. It's also interesting that the
centurion said that he was not worthy. There are lots of explanations by
various commentators but I see shades of Peter in this story (Luke 5:8).

The story of the leper who came
to Jesus is one of those high points in Scripture. What that man must have
risked to break societal norms is nothing short of amazing. Let’s imagine what
may have happened:

According to the law, the leper
was to live on the outskirts of the city and the priest was to go visit him
ever so often to see if he had been cured (Leviticus 13:45-46, 14:3) of his
disease. The leper was to continually cry “Unclean! Unclean!”

This would have been to warn the unsuspecting of his leprous state. It would also have been a constant reminder to the leper of his condition. The leper would have been isolated from society with only a few visits from the priest to have contact with a human being.

How did he find food? Was he allowed to glean in the fields of the landowners? More than likely he would have had to find sustenance in the wilderness. Can you imagine the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ time going to visit such a man? Chances are, that man had been alone since the day he had been diagnosed until the day he challenged the societal rules.

Now, let’s go deep: if leprosy is taken as a metaphor of sin, then the cry of “Unclean! Unclean!” must have been a constant reminder that he had fallen out of the grace of God.

His isolation would have been a reminder that sin separates mankind from God. How fitting then that it was only with the coming of the Messiah that this unclean man was able to be brave enough to take a chance of being freed from his horrible sickness.

In a similar manner, we are to recognize our sinful state and come to Jesus crying, "I'm unclean!".

I love it that this man came and worshiped Jesus. Somehow, even in his isolation, he had heard enough about the man called Jesus to recognize Him as the Son of God. Now notice: he didn’t touch Jesus, he didn’t even ask to be healed. His words were:

“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean (Matthew 8:2).”

This leper recognized that it was up to God to change his life. He could not be freed from the disease without the active will of God. He longed to be free of the “Unclean” label. Now notice what Jesus did:

Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

Jesus must have sensed the man’s
isolation and his desire for human contact. He could easily have healed the
leper with a word but no, He reached out and touched him.

That single touch
must have changed his life even before he heard the words: “I am willing.”

Jesus has the same compassion for
you and me today. He longs to touch us and make us clean, all He asks is that
we come to Him and lay our burdens at His feet. Are you willing to come before
Jesus and worship Him?